Koukash looking to stage Dubai RL tournament

Marwan Koukash has revealed he is in talks to stage a nines tournament featuring both Super League and NRL teams, as he looks to continue his widening interest in Rugby League.

Koukash is believed to be interested in adding an Australian club to his portfolio, and he told the Sydney Morning Herland he is looking to stage something similar to the nines event held in Auckland over in Dubai as a way of boosting the sport’s profile.

“I’ve started talking to people about the possibility of having a nines competition here in Dubai,” he said.

“This is a sporting country. When they had the sevens here over three days there were 180,000 people.

“We’re talking something similar to the Auckland nines here. You could keep that one in Auckland and one here with Super League and NRL clubs. That’s more international. I see the nines as a way of globalising the sport.

“We used to have five-day Test cricket and then we had the 50-over game and the shorter form to help popularise the sport overall. I see this similarly, The nines can help globalise the sport.”